Ghana has approximately six years to realize its goal of Universal Health Coverage (UHC), as health authorities and stakeholders intensify efforts to transition from policy to actionable strategies.
The country’s roadmap, spanning from 2020 to 2030, envisions that all citizens will have timely access to high-quality health services, irrespective of their ability to pay at the point of use.
To facilitate this, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) is expanding its community scorecard program, which empowers local communities to enhance healthcare quality. Initially launched in partnership with the African Leaders Malaria Alliance in 2018, the program has been pivotal in capturing community feedback on healthcare delivery and fostering accountability.
In 2022, the GHS, alongside civil society organizations, secured funding from France’s “Expertise France 5% Initiative” to scale up the community scorecard initiative over four years.
This project aims to develop scorecards for various health areas, including reproductive health and nutrition, while currently expanding to cover human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and tuberculosis.
The community scorecard serves as a governance tool that collects perceptions on healthcare experiences at local facilities, particularly community-based health planning and services (CHPS) compounds. It is envisaged that by allowing communities to evaluate health services against key indicators, the programme will help to address service gaps and improve overall healthcare delivery.
At a recent media training session in Accra attended by 51 journalists, GHS officials emphasized the importance of constructive reporting in promoting UHC. They highlighted that media engagement is crucial for driving community advocacy and ensuring accountability among health service providers.
